Bong Joon-Ho Shorts Not That Short

Yesterday’s screening at BAM of three shorts by Bong Joon-Ho clocked in at just over 50 minutes—more than a quarter of an hour shorter than advertised. Was the stated running time a misprint? Uh, nope! Apparently, the projectionist forgot to show an entire reel, cutting the first twenty minutes or so of “Shaking Tokyo,” Bong’s contribution to the omnibus film Tokyo! Luckily, the short is widely available on DVD—and on YouTube! It seemed that many in the audience (only about 20 people showed up; shame on you, New York, don’t you read The L Magazine?) didn’t realize they’d been gypped, at least not until they checked their watches; “Shaking Tokyo” was the last to screen, following the narratively enigmatic “Influenza”. After that, being tossed into a depopulated technodystopia without a foothold just seemed to be What Bong Intended.